The Uganda Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives has onboarded Hindsight Ventures as a program implementation partner under the support of JICA towards the NINJA Acceleration Program for growth-stage ventures from Uganda. The program is aimed at identifying and fostering the growth of high-potential, high-growth Ugandan startups. From an application pool in excess of 130 startups, ten startups made it to the cohort through an intensive three-stage selection process. The final cohort exhibits a diversity of growth-stage startups from Uganda and comprises businesses across FinTech, AgriTech, HealthTech, Manufacturing, Sustainability, and DeepTech.
Uganda’s startup ecosystem has been showcasing steady growth over the years and some of its prominent homegrown scale-ups include the likes of SafeBoda, Ensibuuko, Tugende, Emata, EzyAgric, ClinicPesa, and several others that have attracted venture investments and cater to consumer needs. Kampala, the capital of Uganda, is also home to African unicorns such as Jumia and InterSwitch as well as Ugandan entrepreneur-founded companies such as ChipperCash and Go1. With 78% of its population under the age of 30 years, Uganda aims to expand its economy from $50 billion to $500 billion by 2040. Key indicators in this fast-growing East African startup land include AI-driven platforms, mobile money growth of over 80%, and startups embracing clean tech with a 60% projected market growth.
The NINJA Acceleration offers opportunities to the selected cohort of startups with proven traction in terms of revenue or customer acquisition to access bespoke technical support, customer introductions, market linkages, and investor connects. The program also aims to facilitate linkages between startup founders and industry experts, coaches, and mentors willing to offer their expertise in different domains that can help startups in their venture-building journeys. Beyond individual mentors and coaches, the program aims to partner with organizations interested in adding value to the founders and startups in the Ugandan startup ecosystem.
Mbabazi Ruth, a program officer with JICA, noted that JICA is working towards a holistic growth of the Ugandan startup ecosystem by supporting both acceleration through programs like NINJA as well as policy. “Uganda has high innovation potential given the youthful and learned population. We believe that collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives and other ecosystem key stakeholders, both local and international, will immensely contribute to closing the gaps in the ecosystem. The acceleration program exposes startups to various opportunities including investment, mentorship, business development, markets, among others.”
Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Co-Founder & CEO of Hindsight Ventures, one of the partners of the NINJA Accelerator, weighed in on the fact that with their experience of setting up multiple accelerator programs across international markets, they will come in handy to assist the cohort of Ugandan startups to tap into their global network of experts, corporations, and investors.
Shigeru Handa, Director of Asia-Africa Investment, a part of the JICA Taskforce for Ecosystem Strengthening, says, “The purpose of this growth NINJA is to increase the exposure of Uganda startups to regional/international ecosystems, unlocking their potential. We see a great start.”
One of the highlights of the NINJA Accelerator so far has been a week-long immersion tour to Nairobi – the leading innovation and startup hub in East Africa. The selected startups are looking to expand regionally, and the immersion tour opened up conversations for the cohort with leading corporations such as Absa Bank Kenya, Safaricom, Britam, Microsoft Africa Transformation Office, Kenya Airways, Sumitomo, as well as interactions with the investor ecosystem and learnings from experienced founders.
The program has been underway for 8 weeks, and Juliet Lucima, Head of Legal & Business Development at FLOW Global, says, “The accelerator program has provided valuable mentorship and access to a diverse network of industry experts that we would have otherwise never had the chance to meet. The structured curriculum has been helpful in identifying opportunities to further enhance our business for scale. We can’t wait to experience what is coming next.”
Dr. Joshua Mutambi, Commissioner & Head of Department – Processing and Marketing (MSMEs) at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, says, “Uganda’s startups have high growth potential seeking to boost their regional and global market presence, attract venture capitalist partnerships, and technological innovations, among others. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives is happy that Hindsight Ventures is committed to ensuring that all the above targets and many more are achieved during this accelerator program. The support from JICA is highly appreciated. The Ministry is leading the process of development of the Startup Policy and the Act with other key stakeholders within the ecosystem to enable the sustainable development and competitiveness of the startups.”
The first cohort of the NINJA Accelerator culminates in February 2025 with a Demo Day in Kampala, followed by an exposure and investment roadshow to Japan.
